Boulder Creek Wind Farm is an under construction onshore wind farm in Queensland, Australia. The wind farm is jointly owned by Australia-based renewable energy business Aula Energy and Queensland Government owned energy corporation CS Energy.
Stage 1 for the project, consisting of 38 turbines, will have a capacity of 228MW. The project is approved to install and operate up to 59 turbines.
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Construction works for the wind farm began in November 2024. It will support up to 250 jobs during the construction phase.
The project is expected to commence operations in 2027, supporting the Queensland Government’s target of 50% renewable energy generation by 2030.
Boulder Creek Wind Farm Location
Boulder Creek Wind Farm is located in central Queensland, approximately 40km south-west of Rockhampton on the ranges between Mount Morgan and Westwood.
The project will encompass an area of 517.22-hectares (ha). Stage 1 disturbance footprint is 370.28 ha and Stage 2 is 146.94 ha. The land is primarily used for cattle grazing, which is expected to continue during the construction and operations phases of the wind farm.
During construction works, Arthur Street and Flaggy Creek Road will be upgraded. Sandy Creek Road and Boulder Creek Road will be used by construction traffic to access the site.
Background
Epuron, which was later acquired by Ark Energy, began investigating the potential site for the construction of a wind farm.
In October 2020, Epuron referred the prospective Boulder Creek Wind Farm to the Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for review.
The project received Queensland Government’s approval in October 2021.
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment green lighted the Boulder Creek Wind Farm in June 2022 under sections 130 (1) and 133 (1) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (the EPBC Act).
In September 2024, Ark Energy announced that the project achieved a financial close. It is expected to entail an investment of around A$740m ($476m).
Boulder Creek Wind Farm Details
The Boulder Creek Wind Farm will comprise 38 GE Vernova wind turbines, each with a nameplate capacity of 6MW.
The turbines will generate clean energy when wind speeds are more than three metres per second, or approximately 11km/h.
Other project infrastructure will include ancillary infrastructure such as an access track network, underground medium voltage cabling, operations and maintenance facilities, and an onsite switching station.
The wind project’s substation will be connected to the new onsite switching station via a new onsite transmission line.
Renewable power generated by Boulder Creek will be fed into the National Electricity Market grid via electricity transmission system operator Powerlink network’s existing 275kV transmission lines.
The project will not require any new external transmission lines.
Once operational, the wind farm is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 379,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. This is equivalent to removing 130,000 petrol cars from the road.
The 228MW Boulder Creek Wind Farm will be capable of powering around 85,000 Australian homes per year. CS Energy has already committed to purchase 100% of the wind farm’s output for 20 years.
Contractors Involved
In September 2024, GE Vernova secured the contract to deliver 38 6 MW–164m workhorse turbines for the Boulder Creek Wind Farm. The deal includes a five-year full-service agreement.
Aula Energy and CS Energy selected DT Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Gamuda Group, to deliver critical infrastructure for the project including roads, hardstands, foundations and onsite power assets. The contract is valued at A$243m.
The scope of civil and electrical works include the construction of 41km of access tracks with grades up to 15% and 70,000m3 of cut/fill bulk earthworks among others.
Law firm Gilbert + Tobin advised DT Infrastructure on the Boulder Creek Wind Farm project.
Powerlink Queensland will deliver the grid connection assets which will link the wind farm to Queensland’s electricity grid.
RES was selected as the construction management partner, and it will manage all major contracts and oversee construction activities on site.
